An absolute gem of a book. I can't recommend this enough.

I devoured this - the Verso edition contains an introduction by China Mieville and ends with four essays by Ursula Le Guin, both pondering the nature of utopia in a modern, political context as opposed to just the literary. Sandwiched in the middle is More’s original text, Utopia, which is immensely readable (somewhat of a miracle 500 years on!) and forgetting the odd reference to humouric medicine, the plague and the engrained belief in the moral correctness of slavery, is surprisingly modern and thought-provoking. To quote Mieville: “We are all and have always been Thomas More’s children.” A brilliant text that evidences how literature can be active in inciting change in human society. Sidenote: Le Guin’s final essay on the importance of imagination in literature is quick, vital reading for any bookworms out there.

3.5 stars Is this 1500s novel (that is the origin of the word utopia) still worth reading in the modern day? Honestly, yes. It’s actually quite readable as well and can easily be digested within a day. It is also quite entertaining (especially that one section about using gold as chains and gems as children’s toys to make it so people do not obsess over them and instead view them as low class and childish) The first book mainly focuses on comparing the utopians to ‘normal kingdoms’ while the second one goes incredibly in depth on the culture of Utopia. However while the introduction (at least to this edition, penguin group classics) gives a lot of historical context to the book, it is…admittedly boring and long winded, I’d recommend reading it last lest it immediately turns you off from reading the rest of the book. Also as a warning, as it is a 1500s book written by a white man, it has absolutely not aged well (as seen with the misogyny and slavery mentions) . However despite that there are still oddly ‘progressive things’ within it, such as the discussion of religious equality which was surprising and interesting to read about.